Rubber band gun



March 24, 1959 A. L. kucH 2,878,802

RUBBER BAND GUN Filed Aug. 29, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.5

Allan L. Kuch INVEN TOR.

March 24, 1959 A. KUCH 2,878,802

RUBBER BAND GUN Filed Aug. 29, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Allan L. Kuch INVENTOR.

United States Patent RUBBER BAND GUN Allan L. Kuch, Colfeyville, Kans., assignor to Allan L. Kuch, Jr., Midland, Tex.

Application August 29, 1957, Serial No. 680,980

8 Claims. (Cl. 124-19) This invention relates to a toy gun and more particularly to a toy gun capable of shooting rubber bands.

An object of the invention is to provide a toy gun which is capable of shooting a plurality of rubber bands that are held in the cocked position alongside of each other. Successive reciprocations of a trigger cause successive rubber bands to be released and discharged through the stored energy in the rubber bands which is obtained by stretching the bands from the gun sight to the rubber band holding members that are in line alongside of each other. A further object of the invention is to provide a practical toy which is capable of being manufactured at a reasonable cost and which'discharges the rubber bands in a unique manner. By this is meant the rubber bands are in side-by-side relationship rather than in the customary peripheral locations on a single wheel or in superposed positions with each other.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a gun embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the mechanism of the gun in Figure 1;

Figure 3 i an exploded perspective view of the rubber holding and releasing mechanism together with a trigger to operate the same;

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of another part of the gun in Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the gun sight and barrel on which the gun sight is mounted.

In the accompanying drawings there is a toy gun having a simulated gun barrel 12 with a gun sight 14 at the outer end thereof. The gun sight is inwardly recessed along the front edge 16 thereof to form a pocket in which a group of rubber bands 18 are to be fitted. The gun has a stock 20, handle 22 and trigger guard 24 attached to the stock and surrounding trigger 26. A housing 28 having side walls 30 and 32, together with end walls 34 and 36 and a bottom wall 38, is disposed in a recess formed in the stock of the gun. A top panel 40 is mounted on the open top of the housing and has tabs 42 and 44 at its ends by which screws or like fasteners can pass to be anchored in the stock 20 of the gun. Inasmuch as the gun is a toy, housing 20 may be constructed of thin sheet metal and by using small tabs and slots to hold the housing assembled.

There is a slot 46 in the lower wall 38 of the housing. Trigger 26 is substantially T-shaped having a first part 48 which is passed through slot 46 and an upper transverse part 50 perpendicular to the part 48. Part 50 of the trigger is disposed in the housing and it has a foot 54 protruding from its lower edge which rides on the upper surface of the bottom wall 38.

The means for holding the rubber bands 18 in a ICE stretched condition and for releasing them, are seen best in Figure 3. These means consist of an upper assembly 60 of holders 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66. Each is in the form of an arm with a curved surface and a bearing intermediate its ends. .Each has a flat surface on which the rubber band is placed after having been stretched from the gun sight 14 of the gun. Spindle 68 extends through the hearings in the six rubber band holders and its ends are mounted in the opposing sides 30 and 32 of housing 28. The top plate 40 has a group of slots 70 through which the rubber band supporting parts of'the holders 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 pass. Spring 72 having ends 74 and 76 and an intermediate coil 78, is mounted on spindle 68. One end 76 is anchored in a hole 80 in the part 50 of the trigger. The opposite end of the spring 72 bears against the teeth of ratchet wheel 80.

The ratchet wheel is part of the lower assembly in the housing. There are six cams 81, 82, 83, 84, and 86. Each has a non-circular aperture through which the non-circular shaft 88 is passed. Spacers 90 are interleaved between the cams and they need not have non-' circular openings in them but may fit over the shaft 88 together with the earns 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86. Each cam has a pocket which is removed a correct number of degrees from the pocket in the adjacent cam. The cam surfaces are ordinarily in contact with a fiat part of the rubber band holders 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and66, but they are rotated upon reciprocation of the trigger to release the holders from contact with the cam surfaces. This is accomplished by the dog 92 on the upper edge of the trigger which engages a tooth of ratchet wheel 80 when the trigger is pulled toward the rear part of the trigger guard 24 and at the same time the end 74 of the spring clicks over another tooth. As the trigger is moved in this direction it is against the yielding bias of spring 76 which returns the trigger by spring action as soon as the trigger is released. The rear part of the trigger can drop down when released so that dog 92 will clear the ratchet wheel teeth when spring 76 returns the trigger to the forward position. A subsequent similar movement of the trigger will cause an additional travel of the ratchet wheel. Each time that the ratchet wheel is moved one tooth, the entire lower assembly on shaft 88 is rotated a corresponding distance and this i sufficient to move the cam assembly to a position that the slots in the cams provide a pocket within which the holders are free to rotate and thereby release the rubber bands. Accordingly, the rubber bands are released one by one and due to the rotational spacing of the cams, a single band is released in response to a single trigger actuation.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A toy gun which is arranged to shoot rubber bands, said toy gun comprising a barrel, a stock, a trigger, means mounting said trigger for sliding movement forward and rearwardly along the longitudinal axis of the barrel, an upper assembly of rubber band holders in side-by-side relationship, means mounting said upper assembly of holders for individual rotational movement of each holder in said gun, an adjacent assembly of cams, each cam having a slot and arranged in alignment with a holder, said cams having their slots each spaced rotationally with respect to each other, and means operatively connecting said trigger to said cams to rotate each of said cams a part of a complete revolution in response to each trigger reciprocation to present a slot of each cam to a part ofeach holder and thereby enabling successive holders to be released from said cams so that the stored elasticity in the rubber band is released as the rubber band is released from its holder.

2'. The toy gun. of claim lwherein said means opera tively connectingsaidicam assembly with said trigger includes a ratchet wheel, a shaft to whi'chsaidratchet wheel is fixed, said cams attached to said ratchet wheel shaft, a dog on said trigger and'in engagement with said ratchet wheel, and resilient means reacting on said ratchet wheel and said trigger to return said. trigger after said trigger is manually pulled.

3. The toy gun of claim 2 wherein saidmeans mounting said trigger for movement includes a wall, said trigger having a foot that is slidably disposed on said wall, said'wall having a slot through which a part of said trig ger is passed.

4. The toy gun of claim 3 wherein said upper assembly of rubber band holders comprises a plurality of arms that have first flat portions engaged with curved surfaces of said cams, second fiat portions against which the rubber band seats, and curved surfaces connecting the flat portions of each arm.

5. The toy gun of claim 4 wherein the cams have curved slots therein complemental to the cam engaging portions of the arms for allowing a rubber band to be released from each arm when the complemental portion of its cam is angularly aligned with said cam engaging portion.

6. A toy gun comprising the combination of a stock, a barrel attached to said stock and having a gun sight. at the outer end thereof, a trigger guard attached to said stock, a trigger having a finger grip and a transverse part, said finger grip being disposed within the confines of said trigger guard, a housing within which said transverse part is disposed and having a lower wall on which said transverse part is sl'idable, at least two rubber band holders that have means against which the rubber band is adapted to seat and flat and curved portions, means mounting said holders for oscillation within said housing, said housing having a slot through which said holders have a part projecting, the-rubber bands being adapted to seat on the projecting parts of said holders, at least a pair of cams in said -housing, a shaft'on which said cams are disposed, said cams having circular peripheral parts against which thefia-t. portions of said holders are disposed together with pockets that provide a space within which the holders are freely swingable, said cam pockets being angularly spaced with respect to each other, and means connected wth said trigger for actuating said cams in step-by-step relationship to bring said cam slots into registry with said holders to enable said cams to be rotated by the rubber bands and thereby release the rubber bands.

7. The toy gun of claim 6 wherein said means operatively connecting said trigger with said cams includes a ratchet wheel, a ratchet dog on said trigger, and resilient means opposing operation of said trigger and bearing on said ratchet wheel.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said trigger has a foot protruding from its upper part, said foot being slidable rectilinearly along a surface of the wall of said. housing whereby said trigger is capable of floating in said housing and constrained by said spring.

Herring Oct. 30, 1951" 

